Training in Seoul

So back to Korea, I had training the first week I was here in Seoul. We stayed in a hotel. Of course, I ended getting the cab driver who took me to the wrong hotel for the first 2 days but I got it straightened out in the end. The most important thing to know right away in Korea is it is that it is very rude to wear shoes inside a house and a lot of the restaurants too. So there is always this area, usually tiled where you leave your shoes. Thanks mom for always telling me to, "Take off your shoes in the house!" so this is not too big of an adjustment for me. So you can see our little shoes lined up in the area. In my apartment I actually have a little shoe cupboard.

In this picture you can see our hotel room. It was kinda cool because you got a little kitchenette and everything. In fact it was a lot like the apartments here. But it was a nice setup while we in training. You must excuse the fact that it is a bit of a mess in the picture because I took in most of the way through the week. The beds are off to the right and straight ahead you can see the mini sun room that a lot of Korean rooms seem to have. That is where the washing machine is and then you hang dry your clothes.




So in this picture you can see our beds behind us and my roomate Jocelyn who was really cool. We got along real well. She is stationed in Seoul so I hope to go see her soon. She also was conversational in Korean which was really cool the first week. She helped me out! Thanks Jocelyn. Lots of love.

Here you can see the girls in my training class. Christina, me, Stephanie and Jane. We had a lot of fun in class. Christina and I especially got along well and we had both our training sessions together so that was cool. But they put this big fear in us that if we didn't do real well we were on our own to try and get a different job in Korea or to get home on our own. So we studied A LOT. I am sure that is why they do it, but it ended up being a bit of overkill. It actually was not as hard to pass training as they led us to believe. So we got stressed for nothing. Tsk, tsk! But what can you do? We did find time to go out on the last night though.
Here you can see Rayna, Mark, Gordon and Dan. Mark actually ended up at my branch with me. Rayna is crazy! I love that girl. Gordon was in my training classes, he is gonna be a real good teacher. And Dan is my hero cause he returned my rental phone for me. I am gonna miss my training friends! So training is over now and I am starting to settle in at my branch in Cheongju. I have not really taken any pictures here yet, I am still getting settled in. But I promise to take some pics to post soon. Don't forget to drop me a line or contact me on Skype or AIM when you get time. I miss everyone back home, but I am having a great time here so far.

San Diego Zoo

So I know I told you guys I made it safely to Seoul, but let's backtrck a bit to my trip to San Diego on the way to Korea. I got to hang out with my dad and do California-ey things. Like go to the beach. You can see my dad and Mindy in the background there, they were whining because it was sooo cold. It was like 50-70 degrees Farenheit when I was there, which coming from Michigan was paradise. They got wussy once they moved out there. So I decided to go adventuring into the rocks to look for tidepools.

And I found some. Tidepools are so cool. Talk about a precarious environment to live in. I also went with my dad when he had to go to Orange County and hung out there while he worked.

And of course, I spent lots of time hanging out with Herbie, he would not have it any other way. That bloody dog is so cute, but so needy!

But my favorite thing we did was to go to the San Diego Zoo. I got to see some cool animals and get some fantastic pictures, so check it out.

My dad and I went to the San Diego Zoo while I was visiting him. They have a new baby panda, this is the baby panda's older sister, Su Lin, she is quite the mugger, posing for pics as she eats her lunch.

This is the new baby Panda, Zhen Zhen, which means precious. And she certainly is! She was sleeping a lot while we were there but she is only six months old so that is understandable. I got to snap a few pics of her face when she decided to wake up and readjust herself up in her tree.Mama never strays far from the baby.


Then it was onto the polar bears, I love this shot with the light glistening on the water. Polar bears are so smart. I love how they cover their little black noses when they hunt!

I got to see a show with one of my favorite animals, the clouded leopard. They live up in the trees so they have big paws and a massive tail and can jump really high.

And they have the biggest teeth of any cat in proportion to their size, check out those fangs! They are soooo beautiful.
So that was my California adventure. Thanks for having me Daddy, I had fun.

In Seoul

Hey everybody. For those of you who do not know, I am going to be living in South Korea for the next year. I got to Seoul this morning and am now set up at my hotel that I will be living in for the week while I do training. The plane ride was 13 hours long, but it was overnight so I managed to sleep through most of it. I will be living in Cheongju once training is done which is about a week. I will keep you updated as I go. You can contact me on Skype, AIM or email me. Love you!